
Book . .Yv T-Li— 



sMiTiisoxiAN iii:i'()sri'. 



\V, D. WFIITE, JOEL MOODY, 

President. Vh e President. 

D. L. Mcpherson, jas. k. white, 

Secretary. Treasurer. 



RESOURCES 



-OK— 



VERMILION PARISH, 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA, 



—ISSUED BY- 




lii I lyiLOPiiT CO, LTI, 

ABBEVILLE, LA. 

For Any Information Desired Address- 



ID. Iv. rvlCRHERSON,Secv., Abbeville. La. 



NEW ORLEANS: 
E. P. Brandao, Printer, 99 GR.^viPtv St., 
18Q4. 



Southern Pacific 

"SUNSET ROUTE'* 



TO 



Southwest Louisiana, Texas, New ant 
Mexico, Arizona 

AND 

CAUFORIIA. 

The Standard Gauge Short Lini 

TO THE CITY OF MEXICO. 

Land seekers' rates available from New Orleans to any 9 
wcit Louisiana point on line of road. Tickets on sale, 
thir-ty days for return, thus enabling prospective locators a 
opportunity for inspecting the 

Richest Lands in the Worl 

For information regarding rates, average price of land 

descriptive matter of Southwest Louisiana, call on or addre^ 

! 
E. Hawley, - - - 34.3 Broadway, N. 

Assistant General Tiafiic Manager. 

J. G. Schriever, or S F. B. Morse, 

Trafl&c Manager, General Passenger and Ticket 



INTRODUCTION. 



TO THE READER : 

Mhoever you are, we hand you this little book for your 
pleasure and information. If you have a desire to 
change your abode, we show you a way into a pleasant 
and fertile land. The facts which we present herein are reli- 
able, and couched in a pleasant and readable way. The letters 
were written by one who was born and raised at the North, and 
who came and made his home here on a farm he purchased and 
now tills. Aside from these letters which voice the impressions 
of one who was never before a resident of the South, the book 
k is full of substantial information which may be relied on as not 
overdrawn nor embellished by fanciful figures. There is in 
Vermilion Parish plenty of good land, cheap and on easy terms 
for the landless, where beautiful homes can be made for the 
homeless. Read and be informed. Then come and see us, 
or write to us and all needed information will be furnished 
without price. 

For facts and favors shown we are under obligations to the 
Southern Pacific Railroad Company, and to the persons whose 
advertisements appear in these pages. These exhibit some of 
the local business done at Abbeville, the chief town of the 
Parish. 

The following letter from the General Manager of the South- 
ern Pacific Company, addressed to the President of the Louis- 
iana Land and Development Company, Limited, will express 
the opinion of one who represents one of the greatest benefac- 
tors of Southern Louisiana. 

Southern Pacific Company, | 
Houston, Tex., Feb. 22, 1894. )' 

Dr W. D. White, Abbeville, La, 

Dear Sir — I enclose you a pamphlet which our Company has 
been publishing on Southwestern Louisiana. I have asked 
Mr. S. L. Cary, our Northwestern Emigration Agent, to put 
himself in communication with you and Mr. Putnam with a 



INTRODUCTION. 



view of getting a contribution of better advertising matter for 
Vermilion. You will observe what Mr. Gary has done for the 
Crowley, Jennings and Rayne country in the way of statistics, 
letters, etc. I have always been of the opinion that we have 
no better lands tributary to our roads than those of your Parish, 
especially those along the Vermilion River, and I would beg of 
you to interest yourself in this matter, as I am convinced and I 
think you will agree with me that it would be not only to our 
benefit, but very largely to the benefit of the citizens of your 
Parish. Yours truly, 

J. KRUTTSCHNITT, Gen. Man. 

In compliance with the above request and the urgent solici- 
tation of the business people of this Parish, we send forth this 
little book for the benefit of its readers. 

The Louisiana Land and Development Co., ltd. 
D. L. McPherson, Secretary. 



A D VER TISEMENTS. 



AN INVITATION! 



• • • • 



WE INVITE LARGE AND SMALL, OLD AND YOUNG, 

RICH AND POOR, ONE AND ALL, 

—TO VISIT— 

OUR LARGE STORE 

And Inspect Our Complete Stock of Goods. 

It will Cost jou nothing to look. Our Clerks are Polite and will take 
Pleasure in showing you around. 

ins 



Can be Found at Our Store at Prices to Suit All. 
STJIANGBRH 

Are respectfully invited to make Our Store headquarters 
when in . . . . . 

ABBEVILLE . 

Where they will always find Easy Chairs to while away the hours, 

>^z:i«i ivisc «£ co./^ 

ABBEVILLE, LA. 



A D I ER TISEMENTS. 



ATTOEHEY AT LAW , 



AND 



REAL ESTATE AGENT, 



]L.»iicl!«i Boiijj-lit sincl Sold, 

Investments Made and Abstracts Furnished. Improved and Un- 
improved Lands For Sale. 

Choice Rice and Sugar Lands on advantageous terms. Controls more 
and Cheaper Prairie Land than any other Agent in this Parish. 
Information furnished and correspondence solicited. 

LOCK BOX 6, - - ABBEVILLK, LA. 

TAMES A. LEE, 

^MPOTHECARYX- 

DEALEKIN DRUGS, MEDICINES & CHEMICALS, 

FIIVE STA.TI01VERY, 

French, English and American Perfumery, 

TOILET ARTICLES, FANCY GOODS, 

New York, Boston & Philadelpliia Confectionery 

NMW IBERIA, LA, 



A D VER TISEMEN TS. 



IT') Clothiiia, 



Dry Goods, Wfl HI 1011 WANT '^ 

Notions, ^'"'^ ^^^^'^^ ^^i\[\[, ^^^^ 

Boots, -AXD Shoes, 

GENTS' KLTRNISHINQ GOODS- 

-:IF SO, THE:— 

BLUE » FLAG * STORE 

CAN SUPPLY YOLK DEMAND. 

When in need of anything in my line, don't stop 'til yon reach the 
Mloiiey SM>'ei% Tlte Bltte Flttgy Stoi-e , 

Abbeville, La. M. FISCHER, Prop'r. 



— A Fl LI. I, INK OK: 

DRUGS, MEDICINES AND PERFUMERY 

A.l>vays on Il^uiicl: 

ttv' F'rescTiptions F'romptlv find Psrsoi it» 11 v A.tten<lt»d to 

ABBEVILLE, LA. R. H. MILLS, Prop'r. 



. . ]VL<>v«cl in ]Ve>v3-.»St«>i'>- liiiiltllnn- IxtH. 



OPHELIAS BOURQUE,i 



^ ,. ^nc 

Of AOHET^ILLK, X^A. 

Keeps constantly on hand a full line of Staple Goods and Plantation 
Supplies. Country Produce Iiought and sold. 



4 D VER TISEMENTS. 



STOP WMKN IN ABBKVILLE 

—AT THE— 

>^DRUG ^^ STORED- 

0-= A. J. GODARD & CO., 

Where you will tind every thing in the line of Medicines, Toilet Articles, Perfumery, 
Paints, Oils, Etc., that you need. Strangers are especially invited to call on us for any- 
thing in our line. 

GUS. GODCHAUX, 

-) DEALER IN(— 

DM (MS, m\\ SHOES, HAIS ii CLOIEli. 



Gents' Furnishing Goods a Specialty, 

. . . ABBEVILLE, LA. 

I am Prepared to take the Agency 



Machinery, Agricultural Implements, Buggies, Etc. 

Any who wisl. to introduce their Goods in Southwest Louisiana will cor- 
respond with me. I am a Machinist and guarantee all work. 

A BBEVILLE, lA.) W. H. WAGGONER. 

On McKleliue Sgunre you will find the 



Post Office Drug Store, 

YOUNG & EDWARDS, Proprietors. 

Every thing kept in a First-Class Drug Store can be found there. Pre- 
scriptions carefully dispensed by a competent Pharmacist. 
Purity is our motto. 



A D VER TISEMENTS. 



C. K. DARLllVG, 

Watch Maker, Jeweler & Engraver 

-DEALER IN-- 

fiive: gold a.]nd silver goods. 

i»» All kinds ol' Repairing a Specialty. . . . ABBEriLt,E, LA. 

E. J. IiirONS, 

A FULL X* A TI/TTT "V /^"D/^/^TTOTX'C! Constantlv 

LINE OF X jCi.lU.XXj X IJTXILIOX^XCXXjO on Hand. 

Quick sales, low prices. Refreshment Parlor open from April to October. 

a.bbe:viil<t^i:, la. 

LiYERYTFEED AND MfSTABLE. 

First-Class Turn Outs Always on Hand. 

PROMPT ATTENTION GIVEN TO ALL DAY OR NIGHT ORDERS. 

. . Stable near Depot. . 
ABBEVILLE, LA. PAUL IVIONTAONE, Propr. 

waimIm house:, 

Abbeville, La. Frank L. Wall, Prop'r. 



|^*^Special Accommodations for Commercial Men..,^iJ 

:e. a. mazjebolle, 

0., %l mmmi m wimmi 

Paper Hanging and Decorating in all its Branches. 

Lock Box 28, ABBEVILLE, LA. 

H. K. ROBINSON, 

CONTRACTOR and BUILDER, 

Plans and Specifications furnished on application. 



PliOFESSIONAL CARDS. 



M. T. GORDY, JR., 

ATTORNEY AT LAW. 

Abbeville. La. 



LASTIE BROUSSARD. ,J. R, KITCHELL. 

BROUSSARD & KITCHELL, 
ATTORNEYS AT LAW, 

ABBEVILLE, LA 



L. L. BOURGES, 

ATTORNEY AT LAW, 

Abbeville, La, 

D. L. Mcpherson, 

NOTARY PUBLIC, 
Ai^encies Solicited. Abbeville, La, 

TODD & ^ODD, 

ATTORNEYS AT LAW, 
Will practice in Iberia and Vermilion Parishes. New Iberia, La, 



DR, J. T. ABSHIRE, 

PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON, 

Abbeville, La. 
DR. W. D. WHITE, 

PHYSICIAN, 

Abbeville, La. 



A D VER TISEMENl S. 



\V. I). WHITE, M. D., Pies't., 

JOEL MOODY, Vice Pres't. 



D. L. INU^IMierson, Sec'y.. 

Lon. A. Minx, Treas. 



Choice Sugar and Rice Lands from $5 per Acre Up. 

^e-TERMS TO SUIT RICH AND POOR. 

Improved, Unimproved, Prairie or Timber Land, all ahove overflow. 



Come to see us, we will show you the Country tree ot charce. Write us 

tor any information. 

Gx^aasiiig- X^^tucl^ tit j^ 1 lr*ei* Aci-e. 

Louisiana Land and Development Co., Ltd., 

ABBEVILLE, LA. 



-)THE(- 




A Four-Page Six-Column Weekly, Published at the Parish Seat of 
Vermilion Parish. 

If you want to know ail about the Country .... 

Subscribe for the S'iak, $1.50 per annun; 

It is a fact that the Stak is the Best Local Newsi'apkk PunLisiJEi) in 
■Southwest Louisiana, 

Abhevill.', Ln. W. Oscar Pipes, Editor and Prop'r. 



LETTERS FROM VERMILION PARISH, 



BY JOEL MOODY. 



THE OLD PERRY HOUSE ON THE BANKS OF THE 
VERMILION— OLD AND NEW CONDITIONS. 



, As I sit here on the shady bank of the Vermilion, I notice the 
water is running up stream. .Soon it will run down again. It 
does this every day. Thus this artery, tinged with the red 
color of the soil pulsates to the great heart-throbs of the ocean. 
Like the Gulf it has its high and low tide, and its disturbance 
often tells of a storm on the Atlantic. But its banks never 
overflow from tide or rain, so that unlike the Mississippi and 
its outlets, the farmer is safe from this great evil. It is naviga- 
ble for any craft that can cross the bar at the mouth of the Ver- 
milion outlet. Steamboats and schooners ply its waters, and 
many a smaller craft. So that coal is brought from Pittsburg 
by steamboat, and the schooner brings in the products of 
Central and South America, and takes thence what the people 
here may wish to ship. 

Where 1 write is the old Perry house ivhich stands like some 
lone castle to tell of a dead and former age. It is situated on 
the left bank of the Vermilion river, not more than twenty feet 
from the shore, and casts its morning shadow across the stream. 
It is a square two- story wooden structure, with eight large 
rooms and eight fire-places, with ample width, height and 
depth to correspond. It is now the haunt of the wood-rat, the 
opossum, the mud-dauber and the writer. The little green or 
blue lizard disports himself on the outer veranda, or gallery, as 
it is called here, and thrusts out his red necktie, to charm the 
fly he is in pursuit of. Sometimes the cat plays with the tail 
of this companion of mine for hours after it has been amputated 
from the parent trunk, so much life the very tails of animals 
have in this country. Tliis house is a relic, a memory, a de- 
cayed landmark of slavery, a ruin of the war. 

Surrounding this house are large trees, all planted by the 
band of man. The broad and njassive live-oak, and the stately 



12 VERMILION PARISH, 

pecan stretch their branches wide and far over the lawn and 
into the air. The catalpa, mulberry, ash, all take their place 
in the forest which shades this old house. The china stands 
beside the cork-tree to remind us of foreign climes, and to show 
us how well an exotic may flourish here. Two orange trees 
stand within the shade of this house, decayed and withered and 
moss-grown, showing the sad effects of frost and the tree's mor- 
tal enemy, the scale. At a short distance near the bank of the 
river stands the ruin of an ancient sugar factory. The cypress 
shingle roof is sound, but the underpinning has rotted and the 
building leans to the northward, apparently begging for north- 
ern help. It looks time-worn and tired, and seems to have an 
inclination to lie down and rest. But this means death and the 
grave. The brick in the old chimney seem to have defied the 
tooth of time, and stand piled up in a hollow square column 
surviving the ruin only to mark its place. Forest trees have 
grown up a foot in diameter on and over the ridges which mark 
the original rows and furrows of once cultivated cane fields, be- 
fore the war. The great plantation of slavery times is no more. 
It got sick and died when Lincoln proclaimed freedom to the 
negro as a war measure. In many parts of the South the corpse 
was buried to sleep without final resurrection. Here the 
mighty trees planted by the hand of the master, have swept 
their somber shade over the old plantation, and the tall grasses 
have wepttheir nightly dews upon it for thirty years. Here on 
this spot, in this house, we may imagine the well to do planter 
enjoying the rewards of his five hundred acres of slave-tilled 
soil. The negro and the mules have been companions as they 
went a-field, both contented to work out their day's labor for 
the care and food bestowed by the hand of a kind master. 
The profits of the plantation were nothing to them. The fair 
or foul weather neither kindled nor extinguished their hope. 
The promise of the seasons was nothing to them, the one 
looked to heaven, the other to earth for his reward. The 
negro with his task done and his Sunday hymn sung ; the mule 
with his lazy rest in the pasture and extra feed of corn, were 
the luxury and the respite of darkey and donkey alike. 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. I3 

But a miracle was wrought in the enforcemeut by arms of a 
principle in human liberty. It was to declare a difference be- 
tween black man and mule. It did not disturb the mule, but 
it went to the creation of a new man. It brought trouble into 
the negro's cabin. It entered into his soul. It brought him 
liberty without the equipments of freedom. It destroyed the 
old plantation that had heard his song and received his tears, 
and he lingered long in the shadow of his new creation. It takes 
along time for changes to be wrought in human destiny and in 
human endeavor. It was to the negro the command: "Root 
hog or die,'' and to the former owner — the same. But out of 
the old comes the new — the new South ; out of the weak comes 
the strong — the firm friend of American citizenship ; out of the 
bitter the sweet — the rekindled friendship of Southern hospi- 
tality. The ruins of the war may be seen on every hand, but 
out of these ruins is springing a new hope and a new life, to 
mark a new era, and to work out a new destiny. A new 
thought is put into the head of man, a new power is placed 
in his hand, and the imagination has onh' to look through the 
natural eye to picture a new world of fertile fields, and making 
the ruin to look lovely in its desolation. 

But I bid farewell to the Perry House and its plantation. I 
have lingered because I see in it the apt illustration of hundreds 
of similar old homes built before the war, where in massive form 
and ample room is shown the breadth and depth of the corres- 
ponding hospitality of the ancient planter and Southern gentle- 
man. But 1 have other things to talk about. 

As I sit here I see over the way a Le Conte pear tree. It is 
four years old. La.st year it produced a big crop, lliis year 
so far, for the last three weeks a thousand nice, large, luscious 
pears have been plucked from its lirarches. And there are a 
great many on it yet. The limbs were propped and tied up. 
and in different ways helped by the hand of man to hold the 
burden of its fruit. These pears are picked before they get 
mellow, and they ripen along from one to ten days after. The 
fruit is better thi.s plucked. It ripens in this wa^' without rot- 
ting, and may be saved for some time. 'I'he fruit of one tree is all 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. I5 

that an}- one family can use in its season, and will give ample 
store of jelly and preserves for winter use, beside three weeks 
of vigorous and hearty eating for a famih' of ten, in its season. 
If you don't believe it, write to J. Nugier, of Perry, La., who 
has such a tree and famil}-. I have been eating of these pears 
• for the last three weeks, and in the bushels I have eaten I can 
say that this pear is as fine as any I have ever tasted in the 
Nortti. This kind of tree is large and a quick grower. Its 
growth oftens exceeds ten feet in one season. I know this, for 
I have measured the limbs of new growlli. There are other 
varieties of the pear that do well here, but this is the best. 

The orange is not so successful here of late as formerh', on 
account of its great destroyer, the scale. The wreck of many 
a noble tree and grove I see in this parish. By and by this 
little insect will be conquered. Good work in this direction is 
already done by an emulsion of soap water and kerosene. To- 
day I examined two trees that were spraj'ed with this com- 
pound, and they are in splendid condition and growth ; not a 
scale to be found on them. This reduces the hazard of the 
orange enterprise to a minimum. A few trees at least any one 
can have in perfect condition with the proper care. This in- 
sures the planting of the orange again in large numbers, and 
the new grove will soon be a luxur}' and a reward. The 
dangers of frost are not so great in this parish as in some 
places, for it is so close to the Gulf coast that the air is 
tempered to the tree's liking. I have every reason to believe 
that in a few years this will become a great and profital:)le in- 
dustry here. I say in this parish, for orange land you will find 
is scarce wherever 3'ou may go. It requires a loose, rich, deep, 
sandy soil, easily drained, to grow the orange with success ; for 
the orange tree must have warmth at the root as well as the 
top. Along the banks of this river no better soil for this pur- 
pose can be found in the South. Every living industry has its 
drawbacks and its obstacles to contend against. But set it 
down in your little memorandum book, that the American 
genius is a very successful fellow, and obstacles generally tumble 
when they interfere with his enterprise. With this people and 



l6 VKKMII.ION PARISH, 

this country, obstacles ou^ht never to deter. Every plant has 
its enemy, and the enemy has its fatal human genius. Chan-# 
cellor Snow, of the University of Kansas, saw the chinchbug 
destroying the wheat. He made the bug sick, and destroyed 
it in the fields of Kansas. So the scale will have its destroying 
angel some day, and become a mere memor}' to adorn a tale. 



THE PEAR. 

There are two varieties of the pear which grow and yield 
abundantly in Southern Louisiana, the Le Conte, and the Keif- 
fer. No better pears grow, and none are so prolific. Often a 
thousand pears mature on one tree in a season. The Le Conte 
is large and matures on the tree or may be picked before 
ripening, and is of a rich and excellent flavor. The Keiffer 
must be picked when ripe, but it does not mellow until long 
after, sometimes keeping into the winter before it gets eatable. 
We submit the following as to the profits: 

Profits in Le Conte Pear — There are 270 trees of this 
kind in the orchard. We stopped here to calculate a little. 
The 270 trees will not cover more than zy^ acres. Put the 
trees 20 feet apart each way and fifteen rows with eighteen trees 
in a row will constitute the orchard of 2}{ acres. Now 270 
trees yieldir*^ eight bushels each will make 2,160 bushels of 
pears, which, sold at $1.50 per bushel, a low estimate, shows 
up the handsome sum of $3,240. Taking from this the cost ot 
cultivating and pruning, gathering and marketing, all of which 
will not cost over $240 and we have left as net profit $3,000. 
For fear these figures appear fabulous we will drop down to 
$1,000. Now divide by 2j^ and we have $444.44, a magnifi- 
cent yield for an acre of land in any country on the glabe.- -77^6- 
JJeniar. 



A TALK ABOUT SUGAR CANE. 

In this letter 1 propose to say something about sugar, sugar 
cane and how it is propagated. It is now the last ot .August, and 
for the last thirty days it has rained on at least half of them a 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 17 

good shower. This is what the cane needs. It is rain, rain, 
rain; and the cane grows grandl\-, and waves its long leaves high 
in the air for more. The rain injures nothing for most of the 
ordinary crops have matured and passed out of the reach of in- 
jur}' by this time. Corn has been made, that is, it has been 
ripe since the first of this month, and a big crop it is too. So 
that now the sugar cane has nothing else to do but to stretch 
out its leaves to the sky and pray for more rain, and send its 
roots down deep in the ground for sure sugar soil, and for a 
firm hold for two months yet to come. Then will come the 
great harvest of Louisiana, sugar cane. It is now taller than 
the tallest man sitting on the tallest horse. The helmet of Hel- 
lenic Ajax could not be seen above the shortest plant. It prom- 
ises to yield a hundred fold. That is a hundred dollars, or 
twenty-five tons to the acre. \Vhile there is plenty of man}' 
and other bountiful crops in Louisiana, such as corn, cotton, and 
rice, yet sugar cane is the great profitable held crop of the State. 
As }ou now look abroad over the rich fields of X'ermilion, the 
eye rejoices in what it beholds. Amidst the brown and ripened 
fields of corn, with here and there a field of cotton, the land- 
scape is relieved by vast acres of tall green cane. Upon a near 
approach, although the rows are six feet apart, the furrow be- 
tween them cannot be seen twenty feet from the head line. 
Owing to the soil, the climate and the seasons in this State, it is 
a crop which never fails here, except in some overflowed places 
on the Mississippi. And it has alwa}s sure and read}- sale here 
at high figures, simply because it is readily manufactured into 
one of the first great staples of human food. This food has a 
world-wide demand. The human body is so formed that the 
food of sweetness seems necessary for its health and growth. 
The babe sucks it in its mother's milk, the toddling urchin 
clamors for it in sweet meats at every meal, the good house- 
wife makes it one of the principal demands in her domestic 
economy, and old age turns to it as the only sweetness in life. 
Thus, it is food demanded by }oung and old alike, and by man- 
kind of every race and clime. \'et while the demand for it is 
world-wide, onl}- the favored climes of earth {iroduce it. It 




^SI^ffvWF^ 







1 ' '-*" 



Vi^. ^ 



^^itiiS' 









M 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. tQ 

must have the richest of soil, the abundant rains of the sea 
coast, and the long summer season of the South. Thus amid 
protracted heat and moisture, and in that clime where the rich- 
est of soils respond to the call of sunshine and shower, does 
this great staple grow and ripen into fruition. 

Sugar, yes, the soil seems to have sugar in it. And here is 
this plant, the sugarcane, which has become a great chemist, 
by the magic of whose art Nature is compelled to unlock her 
store house, and from which are drawn the currents of sweet- 
ness, to find their way into plant and animal alike. It thus 
passes through two kingdoms, and at last is crystalized into 
gems of beauty to represent cash on the counter, stocks in the 
market, food for the table, and a solace to sweeten the life of 
man. Yearly Louisiana sends her sweet greeting to the world. 

Without cumbering this letter with a long string of statistics, 
let me state a few facts which the figures show. There were 
481,000,000 pounds of sugar raised in the United States last 
year. Of this 450,000,000 was cane sugar . Of this last Louis- 
iana produced 430,000,000 pounds. So you see that nearly all 
of the cane sugar is produced here, and in fact nearly all of any 
kind in the United States for that matter. A little sugar cane 
IS grown in Texas, Florida and Mississippi; all the rest is grown 
here. On this sugar, manufactured in the United States, the 
Government pays a bounty of 2 cents a pound. This has given 
a great impetus to the sugar industry of this State. Northern 
immigration is coming in rapidly, cheap lands are being bought 
up, and old plantations divided and sold to the new thrift and 
enterprise. It must be remembered here that the bounty paid 
to this industry, is to stimulate it into activity; for the United 
States now produces only one-fortieth of the world's production 
of sugar. With this bounty, which was a Northern thought, 
the industry if left as the law contemplates, fifteen years, will 
be so advanced and perfected in that time, that this country will 
be entirely independent of any foreign place, potentate or power; 
for then we will be able to produce what this country consumes 



20 VF.RMII.IOX PARISH, 

of this great staple. At that time the tariff or bounty may go. 
In the meantime, however, true statesmanship would dictate 
its retention. 

Here in Louisiana it is the cash crop. As soon as the 
planter can harvest and get his crop to the mill or refinery, he 
is sure of his money. And there are no bulls and bears fighting 
about the price. The sharp competition between manufac- 
turers fixes that. Four dollars a ton is a safe estimate for these 
times. Four dollars and seventy-five cents has been offered 
this year in some places. But $4 at the refinery is a big pay- 
ing price for the planter. 

The old process of sugar making called the open kettle, is 
fast going out of date, if it has not already passed into history 
or become a reminiscence. In that way the sugar cane was 
crushed by horse power between wooden or iron rollers, and the 
juice boiled in open kettles till the crystals appeared, and then 
the molasses was dripped from this. Now it is the new process 
from crushing to boiling, from beginning to end; from planting, 
in fact, to the refining touch, and in the new process we find 
different methods of extracting the juice from the cane, the 
diffusion, and the mill, the thing being to find out how to get 
the most juice from the cane. And in tiie evaporation how to 
get the most crystals from the juice. It is not the purpose of 
this letter to describe the differences, nor the particulars of 
this work. I have only to deal with the plant and the growing 
of it- 

The old plantation where the old mill and the open kettle 
were a part of it, is also passing into history, as may be seen by 
the small holding of the individual farmer who works his own 
fields. And the caiic of the newcomer, who "in the sweat of 
his face eats his bread." ma}' be seen growing around the ruins 
of the old mill and boiler-house. These individual sugar grow- 
ers are crowding the old out, and bringing the new in. The old 
plantation is too large, too costly, too much waste in it, too 
niuch risk for the capitalists, and it takes too much capital to 
run one. Now, the discoveries in sugar making are so great 



SOUI'HWEST LOUISIANA. 2 1 

and manifest, and the profits in making the sugar so reduced to 
a certainty, by the saving of saccharine matter and the economy 
of expenses, that it pays the manufacturer and the planter both, 
to divorce the two occupations from each other. Still there are 
some large plantations here in the State. They are mostly 

on the Mississippi river, where the risk from overflow is too 
great for the small planter. But the small holder is the one 
who will eventually raise the cane. 

See now how this cane is raised. We will say John has a 
farm of a hundred acres improved. He is not rich but has 
money enough besides his own labor to put in fifty acres of 
cane. The ground is plowed in parallel ridges 5 and 514 
feet apart. Along these ridges two cane stalks are laid 
down side by side and covered with earth. This is the seed 
planted. The fifty acres will cost for this little operation at 
least a thousand dollars, by the time he has it well done. This 
planting may be done any time from November till March. 
After this he has to see to it that the weeds don't get the bet- 
ter of the cane. It is cultivated nearly like corn and with 
scarcely any more labor, till it is laid by, which is done about 
July I. From this on, the cane is not touched, (except by the 
bountiful showers and the sunlight of heaven, two powerful 
agents to bring it to a fruitful issue. In November it is 
harvested. Up to this time he will find that these fifty acres 
have cost him a deal of money and hard work. But he remem- 
bers also that those things which cost largely bring their cor- 
responding rewards. After this time he don't need to have an}- 
more ready cash on hand. It is ready to cut and haul to the 
mill. When at the mill the cash is exchanged for it. The 
cost of the harvest may come out of this. But this cost is in 
proportion to the distance from the mill, or rather point of de- 
livery, vvhich may be the tramway station, the river bank, rail- 
road station, or the mill. After the harvest he now finds that 
these fifty acres have cost him besides his own labor, at least 
S25 an acre. Now what does the harvest bring? He finds 
twenty tons to the acres, which bring him $Ho. He expected 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 23 

$100. But in spite of his disappointment, he has cleareii 
$2,750. But he has in this expense lapped over on the two 
years yet to come, for there is no more cost for seed for two 
years, since the stubble of this will produce for two 3'ears to 
come. So that we may safely say that his profits were an even 
$3,000 each year. If he had not worked, but hired it done, h'^ 
could not have made more than $2,000 clear of all expense. 

I have not overdrawn this picture. True I have not gone 
out to plow in the field, and sweat in the hot sun. I have been 
sitting in the cool shade of the old Perry house, amidst its plan- 
tation, now a ruin and wreck of the war. I have not risen 
early and plowed late as John has. T have not dug ditches an 1 
fought weeds for the dear life of the cane plant as John has. 
But he has made his moiey, I haven't. I write the facts about 
it, so that thT;e who work at the north ani west, and are work- 
ing just as hard with much smaller reward, seeing this, may 
come and as John did and is now doing till he has his thousands 
and to spare. I have to sacrifice myself here in the shade for 
the Johns who are willing fo work in the sun with profit. I ex- 
pect to be one of the Johns very soon now. The great trouble 
with the small planter is, he is too small for such results. He 
don't begin with cash enough. Five acres is about as much as 
he can buy seed for to start on. With this, life goes slow when 
the reward is only $300 instead of $3,000. But there is no rea- 
son why any thrifty farmer can't do as John did, provided he 
can start as John started. It requires a little capital to get 
started; after chat, work, nothing else. I could locate on the 
Vermilion river hundreds of such farmers without any trouble, 
who could reap just such rewards. For the small farmer it would 
require the money to buy a small plantation, improved or not 
as he has the means, say $2,000, and he ought to have from 
$500 to $r,ooo to buy his seed with for the first year. Let any 
active farmer come here with from $2,000 to $5,000, and he can 
double his money inside of two years. Besides this, he can 
have everything else he wants that this rich soil and Southern 
climate will pro luce. But if he comes here widi the expecta- 



24 VERMILION PARISH, 

tion to make a great sum of money or to get rich at any other 
farm work he is mightly fooled. He will do just as well as at 
the north, and perhaps better, but it is the sweet juice of the 
cane that will color his purse with gold. 



Louisiana Sugar Experiment Station, } 
Audubon Park, New Orleans, April 21, 1894. ) 

Louisiana Land and Dcrch)f.i)ic)/t Co., Abbeville, La. : 

Gentlemen — Replying to yours of the 17th inst., would say 
that it is very difficult to estimate tlie cost of raising cane per 
acre in different parts of tlie State, since the problem of grow- 
ing cane lias so many factors entering in it that it is difificult to 
eliminate them in determining the average per ton or per acre. 
I should say, however, that $40 to $60 should cover the cost of the 
preparation of land, planting and cultivation up to the time that 
the cane is read}^ for the mill. Plant cane should average from 
twenty-five to thirty tons per acre all over the Southern portion 
ot the State, and I do not think that I exaggerate when I say 
tliat, with proper care, cultivation and fertilization, three good 
paying crops can be gotten from one planting. We are learn- 
ing rapidly how to increase the tonnage per acre and decrease 
the cost of planting and cultivation, and it is not, perhaps, rash 
to say that -.!^e are learning to grow the cane at mucli less cost 
than ten years ago. We have not yet been able by artificial 
fertilization to put sugar into the cane. If we could accomplish 
this, we would have at once a clue to a rapid, successful develop- 
ment of sugar growing. 1 regard the growing of cane agricul- 
turally by the small farmer or planter as being the most inviting 
field for small capital that can be conceived of in the countr_\. 
Twenty or one hundred acres, properly grown and cultivated 
under the auspices and leadership of a good farmer will, in my 
opinion, produce a larger net revenue than any similar amount 
of money invested in any other kind of agriculture in the coun- 
try. With large central factories developing on every hand, 
and with the increased demand for cane by the ton, and with our 
many avenues of transportation, both by river, baNou and rail, 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 25 

I apprehend and expect that the time is not far distant when 
nearly the entire Southern half of our State will be in sugar 
cane, raised by small farmers supplying large central factories. 
Of rice I can say but little, having had no practical experi- 
ence on a large scale; our work has been along the line of ex- 
perimentation in varieties and fertilization. However, I may 
say that there is no crop on earth that can be so cheaply and 
easily grown upon the prairie lands of Southwest Louisiana as 
rice; and a progressive, intelligent wheat grower of the North- 
west, by the application of the same methods in Southwest 
Louisiana, can raise a larger number of bushels of rough rice 
to the acre than wheat in the Northwest; and this rough rice is 
usually worth two to three times as much on the market. 

The orange industry ot Southern Louisiana is growing at a 
rapid pace. A few years ago only the seedling varieties ex- 
isted. To-day we have many orchards of improved budded 
fruit. On account of peculiar location, oranges can be grown 
with a greater degree cf ceitainty of profit than in any other 
section of the United States. Our crop comes in from Septem- 
ber to December, ahead of the Florida fruit, which in turn 
reaches the market some time before the California fruit is 
harvested. Getting into the market thus early in the fall, it is 
more likely to command higher prices than later in the season, 
and theretore the orange industry of Louisiana is not threat- 
ened with those extreme low prices that they apprehend in 
California and Florida by over production. .Vnother point, 
we are nearer to the great market centers than any other 
orange growing section in the world. 

We have in our grove at this place, over one hundred varie- 
ties of excellent oranges, testing adaptability, time of maturity 
and merits of each variety. Up to this time onl}- about a dozen 
or more different kinds have been grown upon a large scale in 
this State. The popular varieties up to date are, the Manda- 
rins, Tangerines, Statsumas, Jaffas, Brazilian, Mediteranean 
Sweet, Hick's Sweet Seville, and other Creole seedlings yet 
unnamed. I regard orange planting upon the extreme South- 






,-.«•, 



^ ^"SS S^r* $ 





SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 3 7 

e:n coast as promising a large income for tlie capital invested, 
and such groves are now being sought after by a number cl 
Northern capitalists coming to this country. 

Yours very truly, 

Wm. C. Stubbs, 

Director. 



RICE. 

Rice is one of the principal cereals of commerce, and con- 
stitutes the main food of the majority of the population of the 
w^rld. It is becoming one of the chief articles of commerce of 
the United States. Since it is being manufactured into meal 
and flour it will in a great measure take the place of corn and 
wheat as an article of diet, being healthier. It can be served 
in a greater number of ways than either wheat or corn or their 
products. One says it will never take the place of corn as a 
food for stock, but we will assure you that it is far better for 
work horses in the South than corn, as it does not create so 
much heat and fattens faster. For fattening hogs, one barrel 
of rice is worth two of corn. Fowls of all kinds will do better, 
and give a larger return than can be gotten from any other 
single grain food. 

Bran from the cleaned rice is superior to wheat bran ; horses 
will keep fat on it, and it will not only keep the milch cows fat 
but will greatly increase the flow of milk. There is no other 
one cereal grown that can fill so many different wants of either 
man or beast diS rice. 

There are thousands of acres of land in the Southwest part of 
Louisiana peculiarly adapted to the successful culture of this 
king of cereals, rice. Its cultivation, growth and harvesting 
differs but little from that of wheat, oats or barley except that 
it has to be flooded to keep down the weeds and grass where it 
is sown broadcast or planted with a common grain drill. If it 
is planted in rows so that it can be cultivated it requires no 
more water than any other grain. Ordinarily it costs about $5 
per acre to seed, cultivate and harvest an acre of rice. Rice^ 



20 VERMILION PARISH, 

yields from ten to twenty five barrels of 162 pounds eacr. Oi 
rough rice per acre and sells for from $4 to $5 per barrel. It 
Avill not take verj' close figuring to show what an average crop 
■of rice would net. There are thousands of acres of cheap lands 
in Vermilion parish that are suited to the culture of rice. The 
very best rice lands in the parish can be had for from $5 to $10 
per acre. 



,A Talk About the People who Live Here, and the 
Climat"^ they Live In. 

Mankind has always been a migratory animal. And since 
the dispersion after the flood, he has been traveling about a 
good deal, more so now than ever before on account of cheap 
and quick transportation. Disguise the fact as we may when 
we complain about the exorbitance and villainies of railway 
companies, they facilitate and give great impetus to the migra- 
tions of mankind. They make it easier for him to get out of a 
bad into a good place, than in an ox cart or on foot. The ob- 
ject of this moving about is to better his condition, and when 
he moves he generally adds to his comfort. In an earlier and 
more barbaric period of the race, their migrations were made 
by clans or whole nations of people. They took with them 
their wealth, their laws and religion, and took possession of 
their new homes by force cf arms. Now, it is the individual — 
the citizen unit of a nation who moves. He leaves his citizen- 
ship behind, and goes only as a member of the social compact, 
to find a new home and a new citizenship. Now is the time 
when the people of the north and west are on the move, and 
they are generally looking in a southward direction. We find 
no southerner moving north. Southern people sometimes move 
but it is around in the Southern States. At this time Southern 
Louisiana is having a large influx of Northern and Western 
people. This is on account of the widespread dissatisfaction 
in the conditions of life among them where they have been liv- 
ing. These conditions are financial and political rather than 
social or religious. They come here to find permanent and bet- 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 2g 

ter homes, where they expect the rewards of labor to better 
their condition, and where by frugality the}f can earn a little 
ease and comfort. Those from Kansas are surprised to find a 
country so peculiar and inviting. 

In the first place the climate is what attracts the Northern 
man's immediate attention. If he comes while it is winter at 
the North, say in February, he leaves a land of ice and snow, 
where red hot stoves are consuming all the summer earnings of 
many, and where men and animals are perishing for the want of 
storm-proof houses and barns, to find here far other and more 
pleasant conditions of life. At such a time the farmer is here 
planting his corn and cane in the field, or eating his meal as if in 
summer time, with door and window open, while the air that 
is wafted in upon him is redolent of roses and violets, and the 
mocking bird is singing on the garden fence. In the garden he 
will find the "early truck" such as lettuce, cabbage, radishes, 
peas, beets, etc., that the winter climate has brought to perfec- 
tion this early. 

If he comes in July or August he is surprised to find so cool 
a climate, where the days have their gulf breezes, and the 
nights have their heavy refreshing dews. He hangs up his 
thermometer, takes his map and then studies the charts of the 
Weather Bureau published daily in the papers, and if he is 
from Kansas he finds that for these whole months. Dodge City 
records an average of fifteen degrees hotter than in \'ermilion 
parish, Louisiana. He is loath to believe this till he has tested 
it by his own observations ; and then he finds from past records 
this to be the permanent thing. If he goes to work in the sum- 
mer months, he finds that the heat is not so oppressive as at the 
North. And while there are three times as many summer days 
he finds no sunstrokes nor exhaustion from hot weather here, as 
at the North, and wonders why this is so. After he has been here 
a year, he finds there have been 300 working days not too hot 
nor too cold to work. Yet he has turned a great many uf these 
over to keep company with Sunday as sweet days of rest. He 
finds here no large coal bins except at a sugar refinery ; no greai 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 3I 

wood piles ; no anthracite base-burners ; but always the large 
open tire place and the little No. 6 kitchen stove. Often the best 
room in the house is warmed with a little portable coal oil stove 
no longer than a "stove pipe haf," and looks just like it. In the 
summer time, a coal oil stove for the kitchen, and the big iron 
kettle for washing out doors, answer all the purposes of the laun* 
dry and the culinary art. Amidst it all he sees how prolific 
nature is, how spontaneous the growth of tree and plant, how 
quickly the earth responds to the hand of man, and wonders why 
the people are not all rich. But thev are not. Outside of a few 
real estate magnates, I think there are no millionaires in the 
South. There is a mercantile class with money and to spare, but 
the farmer is not rich. There are many idle people and also 
laborers not a few, who live from hand to mouth. None go 
hungry, nor thirsty, nor cold, nor in great want. They are of the 
world's poor, but the world knows them not. 

It is easy to account for all this. Tne fish of the aea and river, 
the fruits of the tree and vine, the cattle of the range and the 
game of the marsh, give the man who shuns work an easy and 
sure living. The Nimrcd of the chase, and the angler of the 
bayoj with boat and tackle, is as sure of his game, as that cun- 
ning and art will outwit the simple swain who plays lackey to the 
rich. He need not be lazy, Init simply careless of to-morrow's 
wants. His wants being few on account of the climate, he is not 
troubled with the provident thought. He is not driven by nature 
into a luuul to hand conflict with her, and only at times being per- 
mitted to filch from her some earning of his hard toil. Nor does 
he have to bend everv physical and mental energy into an effort 
to provide for his dailv wants as at the North. It is not the 
provident thought for to-"norrow which eternally heaves his 
breast, it is not to lay by something for to-morrow that troubles 
his daily toil. He is not ahvays looking ahead for something to 
eat, but his proverb is: "Suflicient unto the day is the eating 
thereof. -'And if he utters a chought to hea\en at all it is: 
••Lord, for tc-morio\v and its needs I do not pray, 

But fill me full ot half I want, just for to-day." 

Thus he is a child of nature rather than a man of art. He is a 
Diogenes m his tub. rather than a Plato in his palace. Nor does 



32 VERMILION TAIMSH, 

this Diogenes growl and scold at adversity. When he gets tired 
of the tub he plants an umbrella tree, turns his tub bottom side up 
in its shade, and with hope on the wing sits there enjoying the 
Gulf breeze, defying sun, rain, and the visionary wants of to" 
morrow. I see no great difference in any class or condition of 
men, 

"Merchant, lawyer, doctor, chief, 
Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thiet'j" 
it is ease and comfort, not wealth the}- seek. 

While this may be called a climatic tendency, yet, it is not be- 
cause the climate enervates, or dries up the waters of life, or burns 
the vital forces out of men. Not at all. It is rather because 
nature responds to his wants so readily, and fills him full of fat- 
ness without effort. The ground produces for him every month 
in the year, and does not consume in the winter what he earns in 
the summer. Kere the winter does not begin early m the fall and 
end late in the spring. Nor does he have to go into winter 
quarters and hibernate while his corn is burnt for fuel and his 
accumulated summer fatness is turned into grease for his griddle. 
All this is not known in this climate. Each month in the year 
will produce something out of the ground in his garden for him 
to eat. The Gulf and river give him fish and oysters in a never 
ending supply. The winter brings its winged game from the 
North, and the gun supplies his table with meat. The grass 
never dies, and gives an abundance to his stock the vear round. 
It carpets his lawn always, and presents to his eye its beauty and 
blessing alike. And as he treads its ever-green sward to pluck 
from the ground his winter vegetables, the fresh blooming rose 
bows to him at the garden gate. This is true. I know it. I 
have seen it. 

The fact is, the climate does not enervate man, it eliminates his 
wants. He — '', mankind here are never in a hurry, never on the 
run; are calm, slow and deliberate in niovement and judgment ; 
nor speculative nor running after new schemes of industrv, but 
hold to what they have tightly. The son of the South never 
booms anything, as Northern people have been in the habit of 
booming things. Hence the boomerang never hits him as at the 
North; for it is the history of ail booms to have a boomerang at 
their latter end. All enterprises have to live and gvo v here of 
their own worth and inlierent vitality. If they have not these 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 33 

they do not live. It is in tne slow processes of nature that city 
town and country work out what good there is in them. Hence 
what you call enterprise is at the vanishing point of the picture. 
Here the pleasures and pastimes of life must not be interfered 
with, and the sound of the fiddle has more charms than the roar 
of labor saving machinery. And so the holiday comes often. 
Saturday at noon all work stops, and the religion of rest takes 
possession of all mankind. The Sunday is never broken by the 
sound of any secular work; nor does the sound of the sickle ever 
bre^k in upon the solemn stillness of its hour. The excursion and 
pleasure trips are frccjuent and enjoyed in such pastimes as fish- 
ing and sea bathing, accompanied with music and dancing. Thus 
it may be seen, the people do not rush into the affrays of life and 
the hard struggles of toil to accumulate wealth. They seem 
rather to desire to unburden the mind, to throw dull care away, 
and to regale their souls in the sports and the soft amenities, 
rather than in the asperities of life. 

Now, the climate here produces just this kind of people. But 
they are born here, and not acclimated in any one summer of rain 
and sunshine. It takes years, perhaps a generation to produce just 
these peculiarities, desires, habits and emotions, with just this kind 
of thinking and doing. Under these conditions of physical nature 
operating upon mankind, there is produced a conservation of force 
manifested in all his actions. In all the financial affairs which 
emenate from his venture, the actor is always looking after not 
great wealth nor riches at a bound. It is a conservative tendency 
rather than a rush to get ahead in the world. It is tlie feeling, 
that it is better to eat the bread of idleness, than to burst on a 
stalled ox. Hence, there are in this great financial crisis no bank 
or business failures here. Not a single bank has failed in the 
State of Louisiana — not one. And indeed very few failures in 
the South. Only one concern — a saw mill, closed in this state, 
anil tliis was owned wholly ill Cliicago, and went under by the 
failure of the owner there. To you men of the Noith who want 
to better your condition at once, anci witiiout tlie least risk of loss, 
I say, get out of there as quickly as possil)le, and come to Louis- 
iana. Don't wait to sell, delays are dangerous Give away what 
you can't sell to those who are wedded to tiieir idols and death only 
can separate. Here we have plenty of rich lands, cheap, and they 
lie in a zone inviting, in a climate piea->ing, and under a sky that 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 



6-> 



never withholds the rain in its season Let me remark in closing 
this letter that April and May are the dr\ months; so called. 
This aids the farmer in cultivating his fields, and freeing them of 
weeds. 

The iollowing condensed weather report is taken hom Dr. W- 
C. Stubbs' bulletin of the Sugar Experiment Station, Audubon 
Paik. New Orleans, La. : 



18S7 

18S8 

1889 

1S90 

1891 

189:: 

1S93 

Spring months, 1886 . . 
Spring months, 1SS7.. 
Spring months, 188S . 
Spring months, 1889 . 
Spring months, 1S90.. 
Spring months, 1891 . - 
Spring months, 1S92.. 
Spring months. 1893.. 
Summer months, 18S6 
Summer montlis, 1887 
Summer months, 188S 
Summer months, 1S89 
Summer months, 1S90 
Summer months, 1891 
Summer months, 1892 
Summer months, 1893 
Fall months, 1SS6.... 
Fall months, 1887 ... 
Fall months, 1888 .. . 
Fall monihs, 1889.... 
Fall months, 1890.... 
Fall months, 1891 . . . 
Fall months, 1S92 ... 
Fall months, 1893 .. . 
Winter months, 1SS7.. 
Winter months, 1S88 . 
Winter months, 1889.. 
Winter months, 1S90.. 
W^inter months, 1891 . . 
W' inter months, 1S92.. 
Winter months, 1893. . 



> ^ 
< r. 



Decrees 

70-3 

70.2 

70.1 

69.98 

68.2 

67.7 

68.4 

69-3 

69-3 

69.7 

71.2 

68 4 

65.8 

67 3 
69. 1 
83.3 

§3-5 
Si.o 
82 9 

83-1 
80.0 
So. 6 
Si. 7 
73 -o 

69-5 
70.1 
68.7 

74-.=; 

66.8 

69-3 
67.1 

59- 
56.6 



6. 



.S3 -3 



^ Ih 



Degrees 

97 
98 
96 

9,=; 
98 
99 
99 
93 
94 
9^ 

9' 

87 
90 

91 
93 
97 
97 
98 
96 

9=; 
98 

99 
99 
87 
9- 
89 
91 
9^ 
9.i 
84 
95 
82 

77 

82 
81 
78 
79 

78 



Degrees 



Inches 
62.43 
75-33 
4598 
.S-^-65 
56-37 
6682 
56.0.0 
20.04 
12.04 
18.47 
6.42 
15.96 

6-53 
20.30 
II 32 

1S.93 

24.91 

29.98 

2232 

19.20 

•3-49 

--•95 

14.21 

11.79 

9.8 . 

9.19 

5 •3'' 

9-87 

15.09 

13-32 
20.39 
15.68 

17-69 
11.94 

4 53 
21.36 
10.25 
10.08 



36 VKKMILIO.M PARISH, 

THE LAND OF EVANGELINE. 

Land of magnolia and orange blossom! Land of the fig and 
vine! Fanned by the sea breeze and refreshed by the healing 
dew! Land of Evangeline! I do not wonder that the poet and 
actor are attracted here. Neither Longfellow nor Joe Jefferson 
could escape it. Jefferson starring his Rip Van Winkle some 
years ago in New Orleans, left the sluggish bottoms of the Mis" 
sissippi and came over here into the highlands. He had read 
Longfellow's Evangeline and perhaps was subdued bv the 
thought that he could find some historic trace of her among the 
inhabitants of the Attakapas country v\^o were settled along the 
Teche and Vermilion. Whether or not he found the lost Evange- 
line history does not record ; but sure it is from where I write can 
be seen the Southern home of Jefferson. He bought a nice tract 
of land on the broad prairie, halt way between the Teche and 
Vermilion, where a large mound arose from the common level, 
and built a palace on it. This elevation is known as Jefferson's 
Island. Here he inclosed a few thousand acres of land, with the 
Cherokee rose and left it in charge of one o the descendants, not 
of Columbus, but of some son of the original Acadian who fled 
from British cruelty in Nova Scotia in some historic year long ago 
betide. And there to-day is the Jefferson Island, as it is called, 
skirted by a forest, and foot-laved by a lake, with the palace of 
our Joe on it, in the keeping of one of the descendants of the 
ancestors of our Evangeline's lover. 

Let me here remark in passing, that the Northern man is 
amazed and geodetically bewildered to hear people talking of 
places a.s islands when all he sees is drv land around them. But 
this is easily explained. Once they were in fact islands, and that 
too within the memory of the oldest settlers now living. The 
coast lands of the Gulf region are all in a state of rapid geolo- 
gical change. The sea marsh is fast turning into prairie, and the 
coast is receding by a gradual and sure upheaval of the land. So 
that what was once a marsh is now dry land, and what was an 
island is now a more marked elevation and covered with timber. 

Aside from Jefferson's Island may be seen from here, another 
high hill to the Southeast of it called Avery's Island. It is a 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 



37 



mountain of rock salt the depth of which has never been found. 
But more of this hereafter. Theie is much poetry and not a little 
history connected with this old sea coast country. Many a story 
rs told of plot and counter-plot, of pirate and his treasure trove, 
of the buried bones of bandits and their hidden gold, of the cattle 
thieves and their defense on the bloodless fields of the Bayou Que 
de Tortue ; and so far as myth is concerned all keep company with 
our loved and lost Evangeline. Over on the Teche east of us 
they claim* that there Evangeline strolled up and down its banks 
in search of her lover, and that the tree may be seen at the 
foot of which she sat and wept about him, poor fellow, and that 
Longfellow visited the spot and discovered this to be so. This 
he did I suppose in the same way that cattle find the spot where 
one of their kind died, simply by smelling the spot where the car- 
cass rotted. Some think Longfellow made this discoverv, when 
he came down here, but I doubt if he found more than the muss- 
grown tree from which the old "oaken bucket" was made which 
hung in the well. No, Longfellow was mistaken about all this. 
I dislike to say so in the presence of his disembodied spirit, and 
the evidence o! the 'ive-oak, but I have had my doubts awakened 
since I have been traveling around here. 

The fact is, Longfellow never set foot on Louisiana soil; and 
all he knew about this land of marsh and moss, was what he 
gathered from maps, histories and a diorama exhibited in Boston 
by a traveling show. The death scene, and the grave yards so 
vividly described, was taken from the recollection of a visit to a 
Catholic cemetery in Philadelphia inio which he happened to stroll. 

I have traveled on the Teche, have gone through and over the 
swampi of the Atchafalaya up and down Red river, and the Cal- 
casieu. I have walked through the orange groves of Cameron, and 
all the Chenieres even to Cheniere au Tigre, I have threaded 
the bypaths of both sides of the \^ermilion vvliere she would most 
likely be found if at all, and have even entered the marsh as far 
as Cow Island: but not in it all have I scented or seen her. 
Neit'ier in the orange blossom, nor in the voluptuous magnolia 
came the aroma of the 'ost maiden. Nor hath eye seen. Not in 
the cypress swarm nor sea-marsh nor on the hard land nor shell 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 39 

beach, nor in tlie rock salt of Averv's Island do I see her toot- 
prints. It is well for a new comer to get this mvth out of his 
hea 1. It stands to reason the dear girl could not have endured 
the treatment she would have been submitted to at the hands of 
the Attakapas Indians, who held sway here at the time. Her 
scalp would have been taken to adorn a young chief's belt, if she 
had refused to surrender her white lover for a painted brave. If 
she had escaped this, she would have been captured by a voung 
"Cajan" to adorn liis bed and board. Another reason whv Long- 
fellow was mistaken: There are too many places she visited and 
now pointed out by the settlers, and fixed by the tradition of the 
oldest inhabitant for her ever to have visited the one hundredth 
part of them. It is more reasonable to suppose, that Longfellow 
once upon a time, put on a double night-cap and dreamed all this 
out a'^out Evangeline, and onlv his muse came down here to get 
a good smell of the sweet scented wood-land and gardens of the 
South. True, the great oaks are here. The moss drapes their 
huge branches and swings to and fro in the Gulf breeze. They 
interlock their arms and spread out their evergreen cauopv. and 
build the first temples of earth, wherein the poet mav worship, 
but there I find no delicate female foot prints of the wandering 
sprite. Yet wc mnst not hesitate to call this the land of E\ange- 
line. I love to think over its past history. I love to travel over 
the land. Its broad expanse of prairie, its deep streams — the 
highway of commerce, skirted by the evergreen forest, and its red 
soil of dee]) and abundant fertility, all conspire to charm the eve 
and give hope to a man's pocket. 

It was I think on the 17th day of May, 1S93, that the .Alice Le 
Blanc took us on an excursion down the Vermilion river to its 
bay on the Gulf. A genial well-tempered man of round and 
rugged build. Captain George, was in command, while the affable 
and versatile J. T. Labit took me under his wing. To see the 
wonders and the beauties of \"ermilion parish, is to sail down its 
stream on the Alice Le Blanc. She loosed her mooring early 
that morning at the snug little town of Abbeville, the town of the 
Abby, founded more than thirty years ago by a Catholic priest. It 
is now the terminus of a branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad 



40 VERMILION PARISH, 

which brings a new life with new ways, new business, and new 
hopes. I boarded the boat at Perry, two miles south of Abbe- 
ville by the way the crow flies, not by the way the boat sails. 
Perry was once the shire town of this parish, now not thus 
since before the war. Everything here seems to date from the 
war ; before or after is enough to fix dates. It is the date of all 
dates for this country. From here we steam down the river 
soon to pass on its right bank the plantation of the writer. 
Further we find more pretentious possessions. The fields of 
cane on the Putnam and Bagley plantations spread out in 
hundreds of green acres on the left as we pass down the stream. 
These men are the support and hope of the small planters 
along the river. They have large refineries of modern improve- 
ments, and do a profitable business, helping the small planters 
to gather in the ready cash for his cane. Nearly all the land 
abutting on the river has been owned by some one or other for 
over a hundred years, and the old Spanish surveys mark the 
boundaries of it all. Two miles down the river from the Bag- 
ley plantation we come to a grove of ninety large pecan trees. 
They are on the plantation of Mr. Maxwell, an old gentleman of 
the real Southern build, accent and manners. He is now 
seventy-eight years old, is fresh and vigorous, and possessed 
of all his faculties, as well as a good pile of money. He sits 
beneath his pecan trees, and reaps the harvest of the refresh- 
ing shade, in ample dollars from his trees How often I have 
been told since I came here that men didn't work here to live ; 
they only work when they want to get rich. The pecan is 
a common tree here, and of great commercial value. Almost 
every one who owns land in this section has his pecan trees. 
They grow very large and are immense bearers. Last year Mr. 
O'Brien tells me he sold $50 worth from the four cr five trees 
in the yard of the Perry house where I now live. 

On the left bank of the river, further down, and nearly the 
last on the river, is the home of Adrien Nunez, an ex-Senator 
of this district, who owns many thousand acres of land mostly 
sea marsh, in which are vast herds of cattle, horses and mules 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 4I 

that roam at will. He also turns his attention to sugar makings 
but still of the open kettle. 

Now we have come to the great cypress forest region, where 
thousands of a-^res of the best of this timber stand yet untouched 
and wherein will soon be many a fortune sawed out. And here 
in great forests appears the mighty live-oak, a timber which was iii 
great demand for ship-building before iron and steel super- 
ceded it. But the forest along this river abounds in the various 
timbers of the hard kind, oaks, hickories, walnuts, ash and the 
gum. 

Soon we enter the marsh which skirts the ocean. The forest is 
left behind in the distance. We enter the bay and far out at sea it 
shakes its white-capped crest ac our approach. It is a beautiful 
sight. In the dim horizon the water seems to rise up to meet the 
sky, and the masts of ships connect heaven and sea. But the eye 
soon wearies when it leaves the land. The boundless water, the 
blue and endless expanse, is but an image of eternity wh'ch 
baffles the mind's eye to behold, or the mind itself to comprehend. 
At Shell Beach we unload a part of the crew, then steam away out: 
to Red-tish Point. Here the sport of fishing and the sea-bath is 
indulged in, and it is a merry time which detains till the sun has- 
taken his course to the western wave. On the return, it is merry 
song and dance, with music on the water to echo through field 
and grove, till every point is made and home is reached. 

One cannot help but observe that in this region the fioh, oysters, 
crabs, shrimps and game of the Gulf is and must be a great source 
of food and profit to the people here. The future of Jiis industry- 
is better to think about than the loved and 'ost Evangeline. 



THE PECAN. 

Come to Vermilion parish if you want to invest in pecans. 
Almost all the old plantations have pecan trees. One man has 
125 large trees in front ol his house on the Vermilion river. 

The finest pecan nuts in the world are found in the State of 
Louisiana, where the trees are cultivated in groves. The large soft 
shell pecans come from Louisiana and some of these nuts are i^ 
to i^ inches long, and from three-fourths to one inch in thick- 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 43 

Tiess. These fancy pecans bring fiuni 35 to 40 cents a pound on 
the market in New Orleans, and all the largest nuts are used at 
home on the table, while only the smaller ones reach the trade 
in the north. The largest pecans that are on the market in St. 
Louis come from Louisiana, and the trade there pays from iS to 
20 cents a pound for them. — St. Louis Packer. 

Pecan trees are being raised in Louisiana nurseries; grafted at 
the age of three years with grafts from famous trees, uniformity of 
fruit is secured and a saving of seven to ten years of waiting is 
made. The valu • of the pecan to Louisiana in the future is re- 
alized at present. — Louisia>ia JJ/ti/dei\ 



THE FIG. 

Ancient and honorable is the fig-tree and its fruit. It ad 'rned 
the Garden of Eden, and gave ro Adam one of the first fruits of 
the world. The tree itself is beautiful !o look upon, and is most 
delightful to contemplate in the abundance of its harvest. There 
is no place on the face of the globe where the fig tree grows and 
matures better than in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. This seems 
to be as much its home as the land of Palestine, the banks of the 
Nile, or the rich gardens of the ancient Euphrates. In the rich 
alluvial soil of the Vermdion, it grows luxuriantly and in beauty, 
and to the fruit-eating and fruit-loving people of the world be- 
comes more a thing of beauty than any other tree that grows. 
The tree is hardy, a quick grower, and of long life. In fact one 
is never known to die from natural causes. It begins bearing at 
the age of three years, and increases in the abundance of its fruit 
every year thereafter, so that each succeeding generation can 
gather more abundantly than the preceding one. One can wit- 
ness trees in this parish which cover space from twenty to forty 
teet in diameter. The foliage is so dense that the sun can. 
not penetrate it, and the whole household could gather and spread 
their table beneath its shade. In fact to sit beneath one's fig-tree 
with none to molest or make afraid, is one of the luxuries of this 
part of Louisiana, especially in fig-harvest lin.c. 1 1 1 11 tl t 
is so delicious, and can be served in so many ways that to enum- 



44 VERMILION PARISH, 

erate them would weary the reader. It mav be eaten fresh fron> 
the tree without the addition of anything, or served with cream and 
sugar, or preserved or dried, or manufactured into the syrup of 
figs; all of which methods would serve in its use. One thing pe- 
culiar about this tree and its fruit, is that it has no natural enemy 
as other fruits have, and one can count on a sure crop each year 
with nothing to disturb his hope or make him afraid of his har- 
vest. It can be made an article of commerce with a surer reward 
than any other fruit that grows. 

It is strange that fig culture has not attracted the attention of 
the speculative farmer. The ease with which it can be propag- 
ated and grown, the early and prolific fruitage of the tree, and the 
certainty with which it yields its crop, renders it one of the best 
horticultural investments that could be made. Plant the cutting 
and the tree grows. If half a dozen neighboring farmers would 
each plant fifteen acres of these trees, it would insure a factory for 
the manufacture of the fruit into commercial articles of great value. 
In this way it could be dried, canned or preserved, or made into 
the svrup of figs, and transfer an oriental article of commerce 
with all its profits to the land of the Gulf coast of Louisiana. 



THE POTATO. 

Iri«h potatoes find here a congenial soil. Two crops can easily 
be raised in one year from the same ground. Plant in February 
and harvest in May and then plant again in June or July and har- 
vest in the fall. 

On the sweet potato we submit the following from the "Star 
Stenograph :" 

"Last year I rented three acres of land to a man for seventy-five 
cents an acre, and he raised three hundred barrels of sweet pota- 
toes off it, and they were the yams." 

"Is it possible.? What did he do with them.!*" 

Hauled them home for the use of his family, and to feed to his 
stock — hogs, horses, cows and so on." 

"Are they good for hogs.?" 

"Yes, indeed. They are much cheaper feed than corn and make 
a much better quality of pork — firmer, nicer meat, a good deal."' 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 45 

"And you feed horses on them?" 

"Yes, sir. Feed a little sparingly at first; but as soon as they 
are a little used to them, horses and mules will do well on them for 
regular feed, "just like corn." 

"Of course cows would do well on them?" 

"Thev are excellent for milk cows, for increasing milk, and 
good feed for any cattle, and in fact for any stock, whatever." 

This conversation word for word as above, between an old resi- 
<lent farmer of this parish, and a new resident, was heard by the 

reporter this week. 

* * * 

Also the following between a farmer and a Northern lady. 

Mrs. R.. — "What are those great heaps of dark green vines 
growing so thick and full of blooms?" 

"Those are our butter beans." 

"What! the same that you were eating butter beans from in 
June?" 

"Yes ; they bear all the time. Seethe beans in there under 
the vines — all sizes — little and big? You plant these beans the 
fourth of March, and they will bear plentifully all the Summer 
long, until killed by freezing." 

"But this is the sixth of November; when will they be likely to 
freeze, if not even frosted now?" 

"Perhaps in December " 

A call on Mr. and Mrs. .Sch^.effer, engaged in market gardening 
and fruit culture, three miles from Lake Charles, will show any 
inquirer the surprising results accomplishid in our climate in 
three years in the growth of fruits, etc., even in the poor uneven 
«oil of that locality. This spring Mrs. Schaeffer said to the re- 
porter : 

"We came here from Douglas county, Kansas, three years ago. 
This place was bare prairie — perfectiv new and untouched by cul- 
tivation. All my roses you see in bloom and all oui fruit trees, of 
•course, have been planted and grown since we came. 

"These young peach trees with tops bushing out so nicely, and 
blooms on them — how old are these?" 




•JEAMKR ALICE Lb BLANC l.(i\lii:i) Willi >li,Ai; AM) Kl.l. V 1' 
AVHARF, ABBEVILLE, LA. 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 4 7 

"Those caine up from the stones last spring — a vear ago. I 
planted the stones some time in the fall or winter before," 

"Doesn't it surprise you to see peaches in bloom one year from 
the seed ?" 

"Yes, it does; but that is the way thev do here," 

And the deeper richer soil of Vermilion can certainly surpass 
the "knoUy prairie" of Calcasieu in every variety oi fruit culti- 
vated. 



THE ORANGE. 



The orange is the golden citrus fruit of the topics. The ol)jcc- 
tive appended to its name signifies golden, from its ricn gold 
color when ripe. It may have been the golden apple of^ the an- 
cients, or the apple of discord for aught I know, certain it is now 
the fruit of great desire for the world at this time. How soon a 
word becomes corrupted in the spelling, from the sound of it. 
Auruni^ is the Latin for gold. It might properly be called the 
aurumge rather than orange. The classical and scientific name of 
the sweet orange is Citrus Aurantiuni Dnhis^ — the delightful 
golden citron. There is not much known ab mt the antiquity of 
this golden sweet of to-day. But this we know, that within the 
historic period it was '^ut a small hitter oerry, full, of seeds and 
of no use b'jt ornament and the fragrance of its flowers. Later^ 
sometime after the 6th century and the advent of Mahomet, there 
was some kind of religious curse connected with it l)y the wan- 
dering tribes of the Peisian and Arabian deserts. The tree is an 
orierital evergreen, and long before the Chri-^lian era was highly 
prized by the followers of Buddha for the firm glossy beauty of its 
foliage and the delightful perfume of its blossoms. For tnese it 
adorned tlie courts and gardens of princes, their palaces and 
harems, and the sacred precincts of their temples. '1 bus it be- 
came a sort of holy plant and in the long course of vears by this, 
religious care and cultivation it at last evolved into a delicions 
fruit. Especially did it t i.ke a firm hold upon the Arab through 
his religious faith in the teachings of Mahomet ; for they have 
brought down to us a tradition that it was a fruit sent by him to 
protect the Faith, and to destroy the unfaithful. It is saiil that 



48 VERMILION PARISH, 

the Syrians seeing that this berry could be eaten, and had a 
peculiar richiess of flavor in it, began its cultivation for other 
than its esthetic uses, and about the tenth century brought it 
to such perfection, that it became highly prized as a table lux- 
ury. Not till long after this, however, was it brought into Europe. 
It was early planted in Africa along the shores of the Mediter- 
ranean sea, and at last in the islands of the northern shore. 
At last the Moors, who had saved from everlasting destruction 
all the writings, science and wisdom of the Greek philosophers 
from Thales to Aristotle and Plato, also brought with this 
classical learning into Spain the perfected orange of the Orient. 
Thus the Moors gave to modern Europe the accumulated wis- 
dom of Greece and the cultivated orange of far Cathay. When 
these rude children of Islam were expelled by the sword of Fer- 
dinand and Isabella, this cultivated fruit of the Orient which 
had been watered and guarded by religious care and blessed by 
the devotioii and prayers of the Faithful, was left as a legacy to 
modern Europe. It was received into the gardens of Spain 
with gratitude, and to the Spanish under Charles the Fifth, we 
owe its transportation to this country. Since it has been 
brought here, it has increased in size and flavor to such an ex- 
tent that its ancestors would never recognize their offspring. 
"Through the snadow of the globe we sweep into the younger day, 
Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay." 

But where did the bitter orange of this country come from? 
It is the same question as to where the Indian came from. 
They are both the rude children of nature who have never been 
brought into the gardens of culture. A.> I write I sit by the 
side of the wild orange, its fruits bitter, astringent and hard. 
But it has its use in the cultivation of the sweet as we shall 
presently see. 

In the investigation of orange culture in Louisiana, I was 
led to visit Dr. Wm. C. Stubbs, Director of the Louisiana Ex- 
periment Station at Audubon Park, south of the city of New 
Orleans. I had the pleasure as well as profit of being shown 
through the experimental orange grove of the State, where all 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIAXA. 49 

the best known varieties were planted to test their quality, con- 
dition, hardiness and growth in this soil and climate. Some of 
this highly valued information I now desire to give, more es- 
pecially for the benefit of my Northern friends who have for a 
long time had an orange grove on the brain and desire to unload 
it into a good oiange climate and soil. 

First as to climatic influences. There are many known and 
profitable varieties of the orange grown in the orange belt of 
this country, which can endure some frost. But as the orange 
is a semi-tropical fruit, it cannot stand the "frigid zephyr." 
No breath of the icy king will be of any benefit to it. Yet it is 
a plant which by care and culture, will adapt itself to moderate 
cold and slight freezing. Frosts are known to have killed all 
the oranges of this country from Florida to California. They 
have even entered the torrid regions of old Mexico and touched 
the orange to its killing. In 1886 nearly all were frozen to the 
ground, and the present groves have mostly all grown up out of 
the graves of the old. Occasionally a tree is left scarred and 
frost-bitten to tell the tale of the magnitude and importance of 
the old times, vvnen frost and scale were comparatively un- 
known. Some of these trees, the ruins of time, are still stand- 
ing in this parish of Vermilion, I suppose only "to point a 
moral and adorn a tale." 

But now what has been worth finding out has been partly 
found. As the climate cannot be changed, since it is held fast 
in nature's grip, the plant itself is changed by the law of adap- 
tability from the tender child of a .restless zone, to the hardier 
one of the temperate. This is done by propagating the har- 
diest, and budding into the stalk of the wild or native sour 
orange. To this end many questions touching the cultivation 
of the orange have been asked of orange growers throughout 
the country, and especially what they consider the hardiest 
plant. I may say from what I can gather, that the universal 
conclusion is, that the sweet orange of to-day has degenerated 
so far. that it is impossible to get a healthy stalk, and that the 
proper thing to d j is to bui up in the sour stalk. That is upon 




.'%^^si ■ f- 





SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 51 

the stalk of the wild orange. Yet 1 have seen groves of the 
former at Cameron, in this state, notably Mr. Chadwell's and 
Senator S. P. Henry's that ware in perfect growth and culture^ 
and b^ra exceedingly well. Bat the scale had never yet en- 
tered these groves. 

In this coanection I desire to quote from Dr. Stubbs' Bulletin 
of this year on this important question: 

"Last year Mr. H. E Van Deman, Chief of Division of Pom- 
ology of the Dipartmentof Agriculture at Washington, made a 
reporc upon the subject of stalks for orange trees, based upon 
replies received in answer to a circular sent to the orange growers 
of the United States. His c inclusio is are based upon the testi- 
mony of a large number of men actually engaged in the culti- 
vation of this fruit. His conclusions are briefly summarized as 
follows: 

"First — The sour, and bitter sweet stalk are best on strong,, 
well watered soils, like the liummocks of Florida, and alluvial 
lands of Louisiana. The hummooks of Florida are the adopted 
home of the wild sour orange, a id it is equally at home in the 
lowlands of Louisiana. The superior natural vigor of the wild 
tree, and its entire immunity fro;n disease, particularly from 
the dreaded "mal di goma,*' (foot rot or sore shin), and the 
early age at which it bears paving crops when budded, all con- 
tribute to make it popular. The sweet seecling has the merits 
of long life and thriftiness on dry, thin soil where the sour 
orange will not succeed. It is therefore as a stalk more in favor 
upon the poorer classes of high pine lands, or with growers who 
cannot give their trees the proper attention and sufficient fertil- 
izers. The sweet upon such lands and in such hands proves 
more hardy than the sour, enduring drouth better and making 
better growth. But there is one drawback to Hie use of this 
stalk that is fatal even on these piney lands. The disease known 
as the mal di goma, invariably appears sooner or later in every 
orange grove district where the sweet stalk is used. Trees on 
high dry ground are less liable to its attacks than those on lands 
stronger ord^mper but no country using sweet stalk can hope 
to be free from the disease for any considerable time. it has 
caused the abandonment of s^veet stalk in all the orange grow- 
ing districts of Europe and under the name of "germ disease" 
is exciting alarm in California. Therefore the use of sweet or 
sour stalk resolves itself into a question of mal di goma, or no 
mal di goma, and this is particularly true in Louisiana, when 
the majority of the orchards are located in the alluvial belt. 



52 VERMILION PARISH, 

The sour stalk has the objection of frequent attacks, when 
in the nursery, of leaf scab. Once budded, however, all danger 
is over, since the sweet top is proof against the disease.'' 

In propagating by budding on the sour stalk, care must be 
taken to get the best and hardiest of the sweet bud. To this 
€nd I quote again from the same author: 

''SaisuDia— A native of the island Kiusiu, Japan, and named 
after one of the chief cities of that island by request of Mrs. Van 
Valkenburg. The fruit is medium sized, flattened, deep orange 
color; smooth thin skin, which is sweet, aromatic and easily 
■detached from the pulp. Color of pulp dark orange; segments 
part freely; fine grain, tender, juicy, sweet and delicious. There 
's none of that peculiar rank odor which characterizes most 
other varieties belonging to the same class and species. The 
tree is perfectly thornless, the leaves peculiarly thick, lanceo- 
late, serrated, medium, petiole linear, and the fruit is seedless. 
Habit reclinate and dwarfish. A slow grower. Most hardy of 
all oranges.'' 

Now here is an orange most to be desired. It can be ob- 
tained just as well and a little better than any other kind. The 
reason it is not obtained is because people are too careless and 
indifferent about what they plant, and of obtaining the requisite 
information as to their best interests. We have no reason to 
doubt that by the method here laid down, a good hardy and en- 
during grove could be raised in a few years anywhere on the coast 
•of Louisiana. Of course attention must be paid to the care and 
kind of soil needed for the orange. For to plant the orange 
in any but good orange soil would be not only a waste of time 
but an insult to experience and good sense. 

If the S.'itsuma is not desired, there are plenty other varieties 
from which to select. I have mentioned this one simply to show 
that there is a way to a good investment by and through scien- 
tific methods, which have been found out through experiments 
which have failed, until that which does not fail is the estab- 
lished fact. 

As to the kind of soil which is best adapted to orange growth. 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 5 J 

there is some difference of opinion. Dr. Stubbs in answer to 
this question says: "The Florida men with unanimity express 
preference for fancy loams ; so do the dwellers in the prairies of 
southwest Louisiana. The division among the alluvial orange 
growers is suggestive of the fact that oranges grow well on all 
kinds of lands in south Louisiana. 

In my travels through the state I have observed that the best 
groves are located in the sandy loams, and near the coast of the 
Gulf. The ancient seabeach where good drainage has been 
adopted and strictly adhered to is productive of the best 
results. The .'oil of Vermilion along its principal river 
is most excellenily adapted to the growth and perfection 
of this plant. But however good the soil may be, there 
is one thing which must never be neglected, it is thorough 
drainage. Along the Vermilion this is easily and cheaply done, 
for the lands being somewhat rolling, and having a downward 
trend to the river this important thing is easily effected. In my 
next I shall speak of some of the enemies of the orange, and hovsr 
to destroy them. 

The orange which is a luxury and a delight is soft and tender in 
its physical constitution. If it had the power of locomotion it 
would shrink from the cold blast and Northern storm. It would 
run away from the extreme Southern coast of the United States 
and take up its abode in the isles of the sea. But this timid and 
shivering plant has been captuied from its first home in the sunny 
isles of the warmer seas, and torc° ' into a hardier soil and sterner 
climate. It is now in progress of an enduring acclimation. It 
has been transplanted from barbarism into civilization, and the 
regenerative influences of science have done for it and to it what 
education does to the ignorant, and what good living does to the 
poor and starving. But all those things which are delicious to 
the taste are somewhat delicate in their constitution and require 
the formative or creative touch of man to bring them into the 
realm of permanent and successful growth. They are made so 
by man in the gardens and groves of culture by his guiding and 
protecting hand. 




Hit.' 



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■A 



^k 



^ 



y»'^ 



^-%J^y^^ 









V' f A 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 55 

So it is that much has been found out and is known about the 
cultivation of the orange. And much could be said and is said 
about it, but I shall herein only touch upon a few of the more 
important matters not generally known. 

And first about soil. All land in the South is not orange 
land. I have seen nice thrifty trees and very sorry and poor 
ones of the same plant and age growing within ten feet of each 
other. The former were planted in a loose, dry sand}' soil, the 
others in a wet soggy clay. Not only have I noticed this once 
but many times. The lesson thus taught is that soil and cli- 
mate must be such as to give warmth at the root as well as the 
top. Now any kind of soil that will do this is good for the orange. 
So that the questions answered in regard to thi^ important 
matter are as various as are the soils in the south. Dr. Stubbs 
•says: 'Tt is curious to read the responses. It appears that each 
man prefers the soil he is cultivating. The Florida men with 
unanimity express preference for sandy loanis, so do the dwel- 
lers in the prairies of southwest Louisiana." 

All the alluvial growers ','«rovide for drainage, a large majority 
with open ditches, a few have tried tile drainage with great 
success. 

But whatever soil, it must be well drained, and the tree must 
be planted shallow, 'the crown roots at least level with the soil. 
As to location 1 find the best groves the least liable to be injured 
by frost or scale near the Gulf. This large body of the ocean 
certainly tempers the atmosphere against sudden changes, 
keeping a more even temperature, cooler in summer and warm- 
er in winter, than farther back from the coasi. The south 
half of this state is certainly well adapted to the growth of this 
plant, as srecf by the tree itself which stands up in its 

splendor and says: "Look at me." And you wonder how a 
thousand large oranges can be borne and ripened upon so small 
a tree, only eight years old from the seed. This of course 
is a tree taken care of. And certainly it is with this luxury and 
its profitatble culture like all other things — there is no great 
good without great care. There is never anything great accom- 



56 VERMILION PARISH, 

plished without great work. The choicest gifts do not rain 
down, they are dug from the earth. In the sweat of man's face 
grow the pearls of paradise. 

So the enemies of the orange make man to toil and sweat, 
and often to get sick at heart, and grow weary in well doing. 

The late storm of October, 1893, did much damage on the 
lower Mississippi. It blew nearly all the oranges from Ex-Gov- 
ernor Warmoth's grove, uprooted some of the trees, and the 
floods swept away his summer's hope. This, however, is one of 
the accidents of nature and unavoidable. 

The mal di goma or foot rot is a disease which attacks the 
sweet seedling, and has driven the orange grower to something- 
better — the sour stock for the improved and hardy bud. But the 
scale, that little cursed skin of a thing is the worst and most deadly 
enemy known to orange culture. Frost, disease and storms have 
no terrors like this. And yet, the cure is at hand. I had for a 
while been deterred from entering upon the cultivation of this 
fruit, but since reading the facts, and conversing with Dr. Stubbs 
of Audubon Park, my first love has returned to me. 

The scale is of divers and many species, and is of the wicked 
family Coccidae. To the sub-family Diaspinae belong nearly all 
the species which infest and affect the orange of this state. 

They are known as the Red scale (Mytilaspis Gloverii) ; the 
Purple scale (^Mytahspis Citricola) the Black scale (Aspidiotiis 
fiscus) ; the White scale (Chionaspis citri) and others; but these 
are enough for this letter, and common enough here on the trees 
not properly cared for. 

Take the Purple s^ale which is common here and which like 
all its ancestral tribe has been imported into this country, and vou 
will find on the orange leaf, on the trunk and limb of the tree and 
on the fruit, if bearing, this little pest. It is about one-twelfth of 
inch long, quite narrow and flat; of a purple color and looks like 
the skin of an animal, instead of the animal itself. Well this is 
partly true, it is the skin. These animals are male and female. 
Let us follow a pair from the eggs through life till they shuffle 
off the mortal coil. The eggs sticking on the leaf or bark have 



SOUTHWEST LOUISI \NA. 57 

the vital cell which evolves as follows: From this egg is 
hatched a little worm. It takes a magnifying glass of about 
ten diameters to see it. As soon as hatched it crawls out, and 
finds on the leaf a broad field on which to feed. But it don't 
travel after finding this spot. Then it quietly rests, runs its 
long bill into the leaf and begins to suck. It now has no use 
for legs and draws them up under its body and absorbs 
them. It is now all body and mouth. From the time of 
hatching to this point is but a few hours. While it sucks it 
grows rapidly and the body is soon covered vith a white cot- 
tony secretion. This is the first stage. This wooly coat is now 
blown off which is called the first moult. And as the animal is 
a feeder on deep range, not wide, it has no use for legs and 
they are supposed to be blown away with the first moult. 

Now comes in the second staoe, the secretion from its body 
which gives the name scale to the animal ; and this secretion is 
red, purple, black, or white, according to the different species of 
Coccidae. In this stage the male and female develop differ- 
ently. The second moult proves the difference. The male on 
shedding his skin passes into a state of apparent rest and 
emerges from this without mouth or any visible means of sup- 
port. But as his mouth has been taken awav from him, nature 
has conferred an extra pair of eyes, with le<j^s and wings. Ogre- 
like he now flies and prowls about the old camp to find a part- 
ner and soon as found he dies. 

But she is destined to stick to the leaf for she is wingless and 
legless but still has an ample mouth piece. While now she lias 
passed her second stage she still lies beneath her scale as a 
covering and being fertilized, shortl}' becomes a body filled 
with eggs. Resting securely beneath her old m nle covering 
she now commences to lay her eggs which she deposits in two 
parallel rows, and then literally lays herself all away. With 
the last egg, goes out her life. This is the short history of two 
lives witli too much havoc connected with them. 

There are said to be three sets of hatchings in a year, in the 
spring, summer and autumn. This now leads me on to speak 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 59 

of the remedy or how to kill the scale. Experiment has given 
us this receipt, and how to use it. 

In three gallons of water boil six pounds of soap and when 
dissolved add three gallons of coal oil, thoroughly churn, and 
for use take one part of this mixture to twenty gallons of water, 
and spray the trees thoroughly. If the tree is sprayed three 
times a year there will be little danger of the scale. 

But what ought to be done in addition, is to pass a law mak- 
ing it a misdemeanor to neglect this, by any one owning trees. 

There are other remedies which may be found in the bulletin 
of Dr. Situbbs, director, and H. A. Morgan, entomologist of 
Experimental Station, Audubon Park, New Orleans. 



SCHOOLS. 

The rapid extension of railroads has done much to bring all 
sections of the United States into closer intimacy, and for the 
past twenty years the South has been benefited by these facili- 
ties for travel and observation. The old prejudices and mis- 
conceptions are fast dying out, and our Northern brothers are 
f?eginning to realize that it is not a land of swamp and marsh, but 
a fruitful spot, awaiting but a furrow of the plow to bloom into 
harvest. Thousands of farmers in the north and northwest, dis- 
heartened by the uncertainty of their ventures, through cyclones, 
storms and climatic extremes, are looking southward and seeking 
for a home in the "'Sunny South," where they may enjoy almost 
complete immunity from these scourges. 

The fame of Vermilion's soil and climate has been heralded 
afar, and scarcely needs mention to attract the immigrant, but a 
moie important question to the home-seeker is, 'TIave you good 
schools.'"' To answer this question is the object of this article, 
and in so doing, extravagant expressions and overdrawing of facts 
will be avoid«"d, that those who propose to settle in our midst may 
not claim that they were deluded, 

Vermilion is not on a par with the older, richer and more pop- 
ulous counties of Northern States as regards schools, yet the sys- 
tem is a good one, and such rapid strides have been and are being 



6o VERMILION PARISH 

made that it is but a question of a few years when she may invite 
comparison with the best. 

When it is considered that for over a century the population 
was entirely French and that the State laws provided tor English 
schools only, it is not a matter for surprise that the people felt no 
interest in a tongue entirely foreign to them, and withheld their 
j^atronage. Progress under such a restriction was necessarily 
slow. Schools were few, attendance was meagre and irregular, 
and education languished. But when the awakening did come, it 
came as a tropic dawn. The writer was for five years a teacher 
in various parts of the parish, and has had occasion to observe the 
remarkable interest so suddenly manifested by patrons, and the 
progress so rapidly made by pupils. In a few years the number 
of schools steadily increased, the enrollment in many of them more 
than doubled, and attendance became more regular. New schools 
have been opened and steadily patronized, so that no matter in 
what section of the parish the new comer may settle, he will find 
himself within easy distance of a good school taught by competent 
English teachers. In Abbeville, the parish seat, in three years 
the attendance increased so rapidly that where formerly two 
schools were more than sufficient to accommodate the pupils, it 
was necessary to rent a building and open a third school, and even 
this is I/bcoming so taxed for room that a fourth will soon be 
needed. This fourth, it is expected, will shape itself into a high 
school, where advanced scholars from all the parish schools will 
be enabled to perfect themselves. 

This is instanced as evidence of the interest taken in education, 
and is a fair sample of the entire parish. The school funds are in 
a flourishing condition and are fully able to stand the popular de- 
mand for more schools. Liberal appropriations are annually 
n^ade bv the State and parish authorities — indeed, the tax for edu- 
cational purposes is one of the largest items in the parish budget. 
Teachers are promptly paid, expenses are met, and alter a nine 
months' session there yearly remains a surplus ranging from three 
thousand to six thousand dollars. 

If the past few vears have witnessed such wonderful improve- 
ment the future oromises more. A railroad has recentlv been 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 6l 

completed to Abbeville, and the steady influx of settlers who real- 
ize the necessit} of eilucation will guarantee the continuance of 
this march of progress, and the prospective settler need not hesitate 
to enjo) all the benefits of our southern clime through fear of edu- 
cational disadvantages. A. J. Golden. 



Abbeville, La., April 9, 1S93. 
Dk. W. D. White: 

Dear Sir — I have been in Vermilion parish for two years since 
last February. Have been engaged in raising rice until this 
soring. I found that a single crop here was like one north ; It 
takes all the profits to keep up the expenses. 

I find the land east of the Vermilion river is better adapted to 
growing general crops than those west. Cane, corn, rice and all 
vegetables grow luxuriantly. Oats grow fairl}' well, and it is my 
opinion that rye will grow and afford abundant winter pasturage 
when the other grasses are dried up, but no one seems to take any 
interest in it. A start is all it needs. 

The native Creole is slow to advance or take hold of new ideas. 
They go on the plan tliat "Mv giaiulfather made money, so I will 
follow his plan." Men from the north and west made a drive foi 
cane or rice, and they are drivmg their best at that. Experimental 
farming is just coming in on u small scale here. 

The cliniate is as good here as it is anywhere along the Gulf 
coast. The few davs of north winds are very disagreeable, but 
thev don't come often enough to be a serious objection. When 
we consider the long snow storms and the freezing weather they 
havt to contend with in the Northern and Eastern States, we feel 
that living here is a pleasure, whpre we can have vegetables 
almost the year round. Most all kinds of fruit grow here in 
j'hundance, and as soon as we have an outlet north we can push 
this industry and make it profitable. 

I am a native of Parke Co., Ind.. and while that is a lovely 
country to live in, I thmk I shall try the Sunny South a while 
longer. Yours truly, H. B. Cord, 



62 vermilion parish. 

Arcadia, Bienville, Parish, La., ) 
July 2, 1894. ) 
Dr. W. D. White, Pres. : 

Dear Sir — I am well pleased with Vermilion Parish. Tlic rich 
lands, fine crops and reasonable terms on which lands can be 
bought, all tend to make the country more inviting to the home 
seeker. The pleasant gulf breeze renders the climate invigorating, 
healthy and desirable. I was surprised to find in your parish so 
much rich uncultivated prairie land, suitable for the culture of 
cane, corn, rice cotton, potatoes, vegetables of all description, 
and nearly every kind of fruit that flourishes in a semi-tropical 
climate. Vermilion parish is the home of the fig, pear, orange 
and pecan. I found the people kind and accommodatmg, both 
Americans and Creoles, and nearlv all speak the English lan- 
guage. I look upon Vermilion parish as the garden spot of Lou- 
isiana, and I predict that it will, in a very short time, be settled 
up by a farming class of people. I have traveled through central 
and southern Texas, but consider southwestern Louisiana far 
ahead of that country. It has advantages that do not exis: in 
Texas; viz., better health, climate and water. As to the mos- 
quitoes being reported so bad, will say that during my stay, about 
a week, in Vermilion Parish, at and near Abbeville, I slept with- 
out a mosquito bar and was not disturbed. 

You m^^y expect some of our people there soon. 

Yours trulv. J. C. Brice. 



Abbeville, La., .Tuly 9, 1S94. 
Louisiana Land and Development Co. : 

Gentlemen — It is with pleasure I comply with what i esteem my 
duty in expressing to you my high opinion of Southwest Lou- 
isiana. 

After a residence of four months here, during which time I 
have traveled considerably, gaining information as well bv ol'serv- 
ation as inquiry, I find myself highly pleased with the State ot mv 
adoption. The more I learn of this country the better I like it. 

In tnis parish (Vermilion) I find alluvial soil, rich and highK 
productive. The land sells at reasonable figures. 



SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 63 

Quite a variety of products are grown here, the principal crops 
being sugar cane, rice, cotton, corn, etc., etc. Vegetables of 
every description do well. Truck farming for northern markets 
can be made very profitable. Most fruits do well. 

Stock raising is also a paying industry. Prairie lands afford 
fine pasturage. 

The country abounds in game ; the streams in fish. It surpasses 
other States in climate and healthfulness. 

This parish particularly is inviting to homeseekers ; and, in 
fact, all persons who may have an opportunity to visit her bor- 
ders. The people are kind and hospitable ; always ready to wel- 
come those who come among them. So favorably am I impressed 
with this country that I bless the day that I resolved to come to 
Louisiana and Vermilio!^. Parish. 

I am, as ever, yours, etc., G. W. Peters. 



ABBEVILLE. 

Abbeville, the parish seat, is situated on the east bank of the 
Vermilion river about thirty-two miles from the mouth. 

The town contains about 1,500 inhabitants, among whom may 
be found the merchant, doctor, lawyer, blacksmith, mechanic, 
etc. Abbeville is located in the iiiidst of a most fertile farming 
country, therefore the amount of business transacted is much 
larger than in many places of greater populations. 

Among the most prosperous merchants may be named Messrs. 
Eli Wise & Co., successors to Sol. Wise, who occupy a hand- 
some two-story brick building, and transact the largest merchan- 
dise business of the parish, O. Bourque, Jacob Isaacs, E. L. 
Melebeck, Gus. Godchaux and Moses Fisher. Three complete 
stocked drug stores are always ready to fill any medical prescrip- 
tion offered. Two well kept hotels, the Brick, kept by Mrs. 
Abadie, and the Wall House presided over by Mr. and Mrs. 
Wall cater to the demands and comforts of the traveler in a man- 
ner not surpassed anvwhere. Several places of worship give 
evidence of the religious inclinations of the population of the 
town and surrounding country. Three public schools for the 



biOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. 65 

while and one fcr the colored are open nine months in the year; 
they are presided over by most competent teachers and enjoy a 
arge regular attendance. The Convent of St. Carmel, situated 
in one of the most pleasant spots of the town, is conducted by the 
Sisters of Charitv, and as is usual with similar institutions in 
charge of these devout ladies is a most excellent place of leaning. 

The large brick Courthouse, one of the finest in the State, is 
splendidly situated on an entire square of ground. In this build- 
ing are located the ofHces of sheriff, clerk of court and parish 
assessor. The Police Jury of the parish meet here once a 
month. The upper floor of the building is set apart for the use 
of the courts of justice. A brick jail, seldom used, in keeping 
with the courthouse is immediately in the rear. 

A beautiful bridge connects Abbeville with the western por- 
tion of the parish, and the suburb known as "West End" where 
are situated the handsome residences of some of the elite of 
Abbeville. 

Abbeville is connected with the outside world by the Iberia and 
Vermilion Railroad (opened to public traffic in December, 1893) 
the eastern terminus of which is New Iberia, where it connects 
with the great Southern Pacific Railroad system. The I. & V. 
Railroad connects at Abbeville with a steamboat, navigating 
Vermilion river up and down some fifty miles. Although the 
railroad has been opened such a short time the following statis- 
tics show what a bright future is in store for it, as well as for the 
town and surrounding country. 

Produce shipped from Abbeville over the I. & V. railroad dur- 
ing the year 1893 is as follows: 

FROM JANUARY 1ST, 1S93 TO DECEMBER 3IST, 1S93. 

No. of Packages. Tonnage. 

Barrels of Sugar 14,862 SjSSOjS-o 

Hogsheads of Sugar 75 ii2,£;oo 

Bales of Cotton 3)682 1,843,^00 

Sacks of Rice 25,000 4,500,000 

Sacks of Cotton Seed 29,677 2,967,700 

Blocks of Cotton 2,000 200,000 

Sacks of VVool 332 29,689 

Sacks of Cow Peas 259 47,084 

Barrels of Molasses 556 333,600 

Total 76,448 15,384,393 



66 



VERMILION PARISH, 



From the top of the court house a most beautiful panorama 
spreads itself before the vision of the delighted spectator. It is 
one well calculated to cause a farmer to think that here he has 
found the garden spot ol America. Looking northward is seen 
the dark rich green of the cotton and corn fields, enlivened here 
and there by the lighter green of the sugar cane and rice. Toward 
the east the woods of Grosse Isle (Grand Island) forms a fitting 
frame or back-ground to the picture. Southward the light wavy 
green of the sugarcane prevails ; for in this direction are the larg- 
est sugar factories of Vermiliom parish. Westward, looking over 
the magnificent live oaks that beautify the banks of Vermilion 
river, the vast prairie extending miles to horizon catches the eye. 
In all directions are seen beautiful groves of live oaks and china 
trees, within whose shade repose the farm houses of the happy 
and prosperous tillers of the soil. 

Abbeville boasts of Masonic, Knights of Honor, Knights of 
Pythias and Catholic Knights of America lodges, all with good 
membership. 

There is no doubt but that Abbeville, surrounded by this vast 
and rich territory, inhabited by industrious farmers, is destined to 
become one of the most important towns of Southwest Louisiana. 

The Vermilion river, flowing past the town, is navigable all the 
year, and as it empties into Vermilion bay, an estuary of the Gulf 
of Mexico, many sea-going vessels annually visit the wharves of 
Abbeville, and contribute their quota to her prosperity. 

Very truly, J. Henry Putnam. 



y^ 



^^ 



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New Orleans, Dec. 12, 1888. 
I have witnessed the effects of Dr. Tichenor's Antiseptic and know its value, and can 
therefore conscientiou-ly recommend it. S. D. McKNKUY, 

JSx-Grovernor aud Associate Justice Suprema Uourt ot Louisiana 

Monroe. Li., June 19, 1892. 
I have sold Dr. Tichenor's Antisei)1ic for six years, and find it the best seller I have 
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a. L. BATTE, 
Sec'y Ouachita Druir Co. 
Monroe, La., June 24, 1892. 
In your trade Dr. Tichenor's Antiseptic has become a standard remedy fur the pur- 
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about 75 gross of it. T. O. BREVVEll, M. D." 

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Sherrouse Medicine Co., Manf'rs and Prop'rs., 

]Vew Orleans, La.. 

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Haviiagj- a Oatliartic Kflect. 

No Castor Oil or other nauseous drug necessary after giving this Remedy 
testim:o]via.il.s. 

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Godard's Vermifuge-Syrup is certainly the best preparation offered to the 
public for the destruction or expulsion of worms in children. 

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Godarl's Vermifuge-Syrup has given better satisfaction in my family 
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Price 25 Ceuts per Bottle of 25 doses. 

ABBEVILLE, LA. A. J. GODAKD & CO. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




